


How Did It End Up Like This?

by mortenavida



Series: MCU Kink Bingo 2018 [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, bucky is a movie star, everybody lives together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 11:30:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16240718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mortenavida/pseuds/mortenavida
Summary: Steve is just like every other boy and has posters above his bed of his favorite movie actors. Or, well, actor. When he meets said actor for the first time, sparks fly on both sides.





	How Did It End Up Like This?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the MCU Kink Bingo
> 
> Square Filled: First Kiss
> 
> Title comes from "Mr Brightside" by The Killers

Steve sometimes had to remind himself, especially on days like this, that Tony Stark was actually a  _good_  person and not some hyperactive man-child. Sure, he probably would have never become friends with the other had they not been roommates in their freshman year of college (when Steve was a little  _too_  much of a good guy, and Tony liked to forget he had classes but still managed to pass them). They were just too different, cut from a different cloth. Steve had worked hard for everything in his life, from the glasses on his face to the B.A. in Business on his wall. While Tony did work hard, things just came easier to him because of who his father was and how much money sat in his bank accounts.

 

Tony had only been in the dorms back in his freshman year because his parents died and a few of his relatives (and company shareholders) were arguing over what they were allowed to have; Tony wanted to get away from that, so he signed up for the dorms. Steve didn't have any other way to live as he was already squatting in the apartment he lived in with his mom before she died. Steve couldn't begin to pick up the rent and was only able to stay because the landlord felt bad throwing him out on the streets while he had the flu. They had struck up a deal that if Steve allowed him to come over and host pot parties, Steve could stay. It wasn't the best situation, but Steve had a year left of high school, four schools to choose from, and a degree to try and pay for.

 

Tony, of course, had found out about Steve's homeless situation right before the dorms closed for winter break. Next thing Steve knew, he was on a plane flying to "the winter home" in Miami to spend his first Christmas where he didn't feel like wheezing out his lungs. Tony never made him feel bad for his situation, and before they sat down to watch cheesy Christmas movies and sip cocoa Christmas morning, they were friends.

 

Steve then introduced Tony to Sam, his childhood friend. Sam happened to be on the same soccer team as Tony's best friend Rhodey. Both of them knew a girl from their Chemistry class named Natasha and her cousin Clint and, well, soon enough the six of them were rarely seen without someone else in the group.  By Steve's senior year, the six of them rented a house off campus.

 

A place where they would probably have to purchase soon because Tony had, yet again, put a hole in the wall. He stood in front of the hole, a frown on his face, as Clint and Tony discussed not how to fix it, but how to  _continue_  taking the wall apart so they can put in a better shelving system.

 

"I mean," Clint said from the couch behind him, "we're always trying to find a better way to put the games shelf, right? Might as well just make it the wall. Decorative feature."

 

"Yeah and we can line it with glass on the outside." Tony stood beside Steve and held his arm out against the wall. "Make it a double door."

 

"Might as well do it on the other side of the TV, too."

 

"Exactly!" Tony bounced around Steve to the other side. "Built-in entertainment center! Think we can get it done this weekend?"

 

"Hell yeah, I do."

  
Steve let out a sigh. "Tony, Clint, aren't you two forgetting something?"  He turned, looking over both of their confused faces. "We're  _renting_  the place. You can't just... just..."

  
Tony made a face. "Oh come on, Steve..."

 

"This is the third time your robot thing broke the house." Steve knelt down and coughed as a bit of dust went into his nose. "Christ, is it even going to come out?"

  
"Eventually." Tony scuffed his shoe on the floor. "Come on, Steve... You know I'll fix it."

 

"Fix, yes." He stood. "But making it shelves? We gotta check with the landlord.” Steve turned just in time to see Clint quickly school his facial expression. He rolled his eyes. “I know you were mocking me.”

 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Clint insisted. “Go back to your homework, we got this.”

 

Steve looked between the two of them before letting out a sigh and pushing his glasses further up his nose. “You get to explain it to Rhodes, then.”

 

Clint and Tony immediately each put a finger up to their nose while proclaiming themselves not it. Steve left them to fight out who got to tell their oldest friend, glad that by the time Rhodey did get home, he would be fast asleep. The one good thing about his hearing was that while he wasn’t deaf, sounds outside his immediate notice weren’t as apparent. He could hear muffled noises from outside his room, but it was never clear.

 

Clint just took out his hearing aids, causing Tony to laugh and Rhodey to get even angrier. Steve would never admit he found it funny sometimes.

 

He shut the door to his room and flicked on the light. While he took the smallest room in the house in order to have slightly cheaper rent, it was still pretty open. His twin bunk bed sat against the far wall, the actual mattress on the bottom so he could store boxes of supplies on top. While he was getting his masters in business, he liked to dabble in art. Each box was labeled by supply (paint brushes, paint, mixers - the largest tote was for his spare small canvases) and it reached almost to the ceiling.

 

On the opposite side of his room sat his desk, a bookcase on either side of it. It was Steve miniature office and he sat there more than anywhere else in the house. A window separated his ‘office’ from his ‘bedroom’ and under that was his laundry basket and bed-side table. The light on it was made by Natasha in one of her art classes and it did a good job illuminating his entire room without being too harsh.

 

Steve checked his watch and decided that it was early enough that he could get away with crawling into bed now instead of pretending to study. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it in the direction of the laundry, not bothering to see if it landed. His pants came next and they went back toward the closet - he could stand wearing them again before they were too dirty.  Just in his boxers now, he bent over and rolled himself into bed, letting out a sigh.

 

Above him, taped neatly to the bottom of the top bunk, were two promotional posters of his favorite actor. James “Bucky” Barnes was every woman’s wet dream and from his poses, he knew it. These particular posters were of a diner shoot for his latest rom-com where he was a local farmer falling for a city girl who was trying to develop the land to something else. He wore form-fitting blue jeans, a white undershirt, and a jeans jacket rolled just a bit up his arms. In the first poster, he was leaning back on the diner stool, looking behind him with a hand resting comfortably on his thigh. The other, he was sprawled out more - one foot on the table across the aisle and his elbow on the bar counter.

 

The look he gave in the second was what got Steve riled up every time. “This is for you,” it said, and Steve believed every word. Even now, he bit his lip as he stared over the images, trying not to let his mind wander too much. Wandering wasn’t a good thing when he knew he wasn’t going to be disturbed. But the tent in his pants would not be ignored and soon enough, his hand was under his boxers and stroking along his erection.

 

Barnes was every woman’s wet dream, but he was Steve Rogers’ permanent spank bank. Ever since his first role back when Steve was in high school, as a side character in some stupid high school dramatic thing, Steve couldn’t get the man out of his mind. His friends knew, and it was a running joke to buy him the newest movie or show or _anything_ with Barnes in it. Steve was both horrified and extremely appreciative of the gesture.

 

It was Clint who had brought home the magazine with the “bonus full posters” in it. Steve had laughed it off and immediately went into his room to almost rub himself raw at the rough and seductive look Barnes gave off.

 

The thing with Barnes was just a crush, and Steve knew that. There was no way he would be able to ever meet the man, nor would Barnes ever be interested. Big Hollywood actors just weren’t gay and, if they were, they were regulated to comedy or loveless side characters. So Steve was content with his crush, he would get over it as soon as he found a nice boy to settle down with and have a family.

 

Just… if that boy looked like James, it would probably make Steve’s fantasies just a bit easier.

 

—

 

About a month after the Robot Wall Incident, Tony stood next to Steve’s desk, bouncing on his feet as he waited for Steve to finish typing up the last of his paper. The genius had come in, demanding for Steve to guess something, but Steve had said not until he finished. He figured Tony would leave, but when the man had simply stayed there and waited, Steve figured it was either something important to do with the hole in the wall, or he was about to find another issue with the house. Both things could wait, so he continued on with his last paragraph before hitting save and turning to his friend.

 

“What was so very important, then?”

 

“You make it sound like I never tell you important stuff.” Tony wrinkled his nose. “Now I’m not sure I want to share this good news with you. You probably won’t even like it.”

 

“Guilt-trips don’t work on me.” Steve did reach out and take Tony’s wrist though. “Tony~”

 

A smile broke out on Tony’s face and he bounced on his feet again. “Okay, you got me. You’re also going to think I’m the best person in the world and I’m cementing my spot as your best man for whenever you get married. Probably even the godparent of all of your kids, too.”

 

Steve laughed, pushing his chair toward his bed so Tony could sit instead of stand next to him. “Go on, tell me why I’m going to love you that much.”

 

“We’re going on a vacation!”

 

That wasn’t what Steve was expecting and he stared at Tony, confused. “What?”

 

“No arguing, the tickets are bought, but we’re going on vacation. The house is.”

 

“Tony—”

 

“And! And it’s during spring break where I know you don’t have anything due because you’ve got that huge research paper beforehand, so you can’t use any excuse about homework.”

 

Steve arched an eyebrow. “You memorized my syllabus?”

 

“No, I took a picture of it when it was on the counter last week.” Tony took Steve’s hands in his own. “Come _on_ , Steve. We haven’t been on a vacation in forever and the rest of the house is already excited and you deserve a break. You and Sam both because we both know getting your Masters is hard-”

 

“For us normal people,” Steve muttered.

 

“For _all_ of us. Mine wasn’t any easier.” Tony swung their hands a bit. “So…?”

 

“You haven’t even told me where we’re going. How can I agree when I don’t know that?”

 

“What if I told you it was a surprise?”

 

Steve groaned. “You’re not going to tell me, are you…”

 

“Nope.” Tony stood and pumped his fist in the air. “Vacation! Guys, we’re a 'go' for vacation!”

 

Steve turned as Tony ran out of his room. “Can you at least tell me what to pack for?” he asked, then shook his head as he heard the murmurs of the others talking. Natasha would tell him at least what to put in his suitcase if she didn’t do it herself.

 

Whatever was going on, he didn’t want to ruin Tony’s surprise. He went back to his paper and got started on editing.

 

—

 

Steve squinted toward the L.A. highway, still shocked that out of all the places Tony chose for Spring Break, it was California. So far all he knew of this trip was they had a hotel near downtown, they were staying until Sunday afternoon, and everybody else knew exactly what was planned. He startled a bit when a pair of sunglasses came down over his regular glasses, but then Natasha was next to him, staring in the same direction he had been looking.

 

“Listen, Tony’s worked really hard on this,” she said, “and he’s worried you won’t like it.”

 

“Is that a warning I’m going to hate it?”

 

Natasha shook her head, her red curls bouncing slightly. “No. I’m just letting you know that he didn’t do this to embarrass you or to tease you in any way. He really just wants you to have a good time.”

 

Steve gave her a wry smile. “No you have me worried, Nat…”

 

She gave him a small smile as Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I promise, there’s no reason to worry. We’ll see you on Sunday, okay? I want all the details.”

 

“Wait… We’re splitting up?” Steve turned to look back at where Tony was still signing the paperwork for the rental car. “What?”

 

“Living with everybody is fun,” Sam said, “but sometimes I just need some time with my girl.”

 

Clint made a gagging motion at that point and while Steve was sure he couldn’t hear what Sam had said, they had all been around the hopeless romantic enough to know that Sam would always fawn over Natasha when he could. Steve sighed and dropped his head to Natasha’s shoulder where Sam’s hand wasn’t.

 

“I can’t believe you’re leaving me… Tula how could you?”

 

Natasha pressed a fluttering kiss to his head. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

 

“We ready?” Tony asked, jingling keys in his hand. “I got us a convertible~”

 

Natasha nudged Steve off her shoulder. “Have fun, boys,” she said before letting Sam lead her down the rows of cars.

 

Steve knew he wasn’t going to get out of whatever was coming, so he gave Tony a wide smile and clapped his hands together once before rubbing them. “So. Let’s get this started, yeah?”

 

Clint gave Rhodey a high-five before taking the keys from Tony and taking off down the aisle of cars. “I call shotgun!”

 

“Like hell,” Rhodey muttered before taking off after him.

 

Tony rubbed his chest before putting an arm around Steve’s shoulders. “Yeah, I’m not going to run.”

 

Steve leaned against him, appreciating that Tony was going his speed instead of his normal speed. “I’m nervous about what you have planned,” he admitted. “Can you just tell me since we’re here?”

 

Tony stared down at his feet as they walked. “Can’t you let me surprise you just once?”

 

“You know I’m going to bug you until you tell me.” Steve nudged his side. “Tony, tell me. Please?”

 

Tony used his free hand to make a zipping motion over his mouth. “Nope.”

 

Steve rolled his eyes. “I’ll crack you,” he promised. “You’ll see.”

 

—

 

The week went by quickly, but Tony had yet to crack. Steve was sure there was something more than just being pampered in a spa (which was nice) or playing at the beach (not too nice - Steve hated sunburns). He pestered Tony every chance he got, and once or twice he saw that his friend had almost broken down and said something, but then Clint or Rhodey would crash their conversation and distract Tony away from it. It was only a little frustrating - mostly Steve was proud that Tony actually could keep this a secret for so long.

 

Then on Thursday, Tony got them all up and out of the hotel around noon. He convinced Steve to be blindfolded and the four of them got into the car to drive who knew where — all Steve could tell was that it wasn’t that long of a drive. The noise that met him as Clint led him forward told Steve that he was around a lot of people, but there was no screaming so it couldn’t have been a theme park. Eventually, they were in some kind of line because there was a lot of stepping forward a few feet and then stopping.

 

Steve was nervous, and the last thing he wanted to do was tell Tony. Natasha was right - whatever was going on probably took a lot of effort to put together. And if they were being this secretive, they were definitely worried.

 

“Almost there,” Clint said into his ear loud enough for Steve to hear above the buzzing and other noise. “Hope you like it, Steve.”

 

Tony took Steve’s hand at that point and gently lead him past some kind of fabric. The sound was immediately muffled and someone in the room let out a low, gentle laugh that went straight to Steve’s cock. He bit his lip and pulled his hand away from Tony’s.

 

“Tony, I…”

 

“No, sorry. I probably shouldn’t have _blindfolded_ you.” Tony put a hand on Steve’s back. “I’m sorry, we just wanted to surprise him,” he said to someone else. “You’re his favorite actor.”

 

“Am I?”

 

And Steve _knew_ that voice. He scrambled to pull the blindfold off his face and get his glasses back on, breath coming out fast. He blinked to clear his sight in the room and then leaned into Tony’s hand on his back. Sitting right there, only a table between them, was _the_ James Barnes. The hottest actor.

 

Steve clutched at the blindfold in his hand. “Oh my god…”

 

“No, just Bucky.” The way he stood was causing an issue in Steve’s pants and he moved his hands down to cover it. “It’s nice to meet you.”

 

Tony nudged Steve closer. “This is Steve,” he said. “And for his birthday, I want to get whatever he wants signed.”

 

“You can call me Bucky.” _Bucky_ held out his hand, the smile never leaving his face. “You look flushed.”

 

Steve took Bucky’s hand, hoping he wasn’t shaking too much. “I… I…”

 

“He has a crush,” Tony supplied. “It’s adorable.”

 

Bucky’s eyes trailed over Steve’s body, sending a shiver down his back. Steve wasn’t sure whether to thank Tony or yell at him. This was not the situation he wanted to be in, _except it was_. He bit his lip as Bucky’s tongue poked out to run across his top lip.

 

“Tell me more?”

 

Tony grinned and let his hand drop from Steve’s back. “I only paid for him to be in here, so…”

 

Steve gave Tony a panicked look. “But—!”

 

“Don’t worry, I have my assistant.” Bucky motioned to a corner of the tent they were in. A woman stood there, typing away on her phone. “Wanda won’t let anything bad happen. She can kick my ass.”

 

“Sounds good.” Tony patted Steve’s arm and then left.

 

Steve looked back to Bucky, eyes wide. “I’m sorry, I…”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Most guys that have a crush on me aren’t as cute as you.”

 

Steve’s face felt hot and the floor suddenly became very interesting. “Look, I’m sure you get people like me all day. He’s gone, you don’t have to fake it.”

 

“Never said anything about faking.” Bucky’s shoes scuffed across the floor as he moved around the table. “Come on, doll. Look at me?”

 

The nickname wasn’t something Steve expected and he looked up, almost immediately lost in the intense gaze Bucky hand on him. He shifted anxiously on his feet, rubbing one of his arms. “I…”

 

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

 

“I do that plenty myself,” Steve said with a small smile. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect this. He said we were going on a vacation and…”

 

Bucky arched an eyebrow. “Not even a little clue? Thought you were a big fan.”

 

“It’s not like I keep track of where you _are_.” Steve looked to Wanda, still typing away, before licking his lips and stepping closer to Bucky. “But maybe I should?”

 

“Not like I’d mind.” Bucky reached a hand out. “Come here?”

 

Something in Steve’s mind screamed at him to turn around and leave, that Bucky probably did this with a lot of fans (why else would he be in some kind of secret tent?), but…

 

He stepped closer and slid his hand into Bucky’s, a shiver running down his back as their skin slid together. Steve’s blush came back as Bucky squeezed the hand, tugging him closer.

 

“How many fans have you done this to?” Steve couldn’t help but ask. He wanted this, sure, but he had standards. He wasn’t some toy, some notch on a bedpost.

 

Bucky shrugged, thumb sliding across the back of Steve’s hand. “Not many let me. Most of my fans are women, you realize.” He leaned closer. “And I’m probably the gayest man in Hollywood right now.”

 

Steve snorted. “Neil Patrick Harris,” he mumbled, unable to help the smile that came across his face as Bucky laughed. “What, I’m serious.”

 

“You got me there, I guess. That just means I owe you dinner.”

 

“What?”

 

Bucky tugged Steve closer so they were barely inches apart. “I know a great place downtown.”

 

“Did Tony put you up to this?”

 

“Are you always this distrustful?” Bucky frowned. “Or are you straight?”

 

“No! No, I’m…” Steve cleared his throat, looking down at their hands. “Sorry, no. I’m not straight. I just…”

 

Bucky tilted Steve’s chin up, their breath mingling. “Then I’d really, _really_ like to take you to dinner,” he said, voice quiet.

 

Steve could only nod, too focused on keeping his breathing even and his heart from beating out of his chest. This wasn’t what he expected during this vacation, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He squeezed Bucky’s hand gently.

 

“I guess I should give you my phone number?” he asked.

 

“That would be helpful.” Bucky ran his fingers over Steve’s cheek. “But I want to kiss you first. Can I do that?”

 

Steve closed the distance between them instead of answering, pressing his lips against Bucky’s. The other man grinned into the kiss and slid his free hand around Steve’s back, holding him close before he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. A little surprised, Steve broke the kiss and leaned back to look down between them again.

 

Bucky’s pants had a bulge in them and Steve’s face grew even redder than it had been before.

 

“So,” Bucky said, resting his hand on Steve’s hip. “How ‘bout that phone number?”

 

And really, how could Steve refuse?

**Author's Note:**

> These are the posters Steve has above his bed.
> 
>  
> 
>  


End file.
